The Pros And Cons Of Raising Minimum Wage

Rex Huppke, a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, deftly discusses the pros and cons of raising the minimum wage in the last of a two-week series in “In the Minimum Wage Debate, Both Sides Make Valid Points”. Although I am for raising the minimum wage, Huppke’s presentation of the opposite argument does make one think beyond the gut reading that everyone deserves more money. Huppke’s argument that a large number of minimum wage earners are student of the elderly leads me to believe that a tier of wages would take care of the issue. For example, anyone working less than 35 hours a week would be paid at a certain rate; with full time getting an increase. I am not concerned by the argument that a higher minimum wage leads to lay-offs or price increases when most products sold in America are manufactured by cheap foreign labor. There is already a huge profit margin that could sustain such an increase. Rather than give discounts on goods and services, thus preventing employees from exercising the right to shop, stay or eat wherever the employee chooses, these employers trap workers into giving back the very money they have “slaved” for.

Raising the minimum wage can help strengthen working businesses,families and help our economy recover. “The minimum wage was enacted in 1937 during the Great Depression and it has been increased 16 times. It's a well-established economic policy to help families”.Raising the minimum wage in the U.S has its pros and cons.This has been the theme for several years

The federal minimum wage was officially established in 1933 as a law. However, in the article Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage, Jonathan Grossman stated that it actually was struck down after two years by a Supreme Court case and was not reestablished until 1938. Grossman explained how the formation of this law had to endure many so called “Supreme Court disasters”. The Supreme Court at the time voted against many cases regarding state level minimum wage laws and declared them unconstitutional. Grossman put in his article that several of these decisions were among the most unpopular ever rendered by the Supreme Court. Only three years later though, thanks

Raising minimum wage has been a debate for quite some time. This Essay will go over Pros and Cons. I will research both sides of this ongoing debate. Listing a few from each side. Coming to a conclusion that raising minimum wage is what would be best for the citizens of the United States and for the economy.

Raising minimum wage will help reduce crime because it will encourage teenagers and young adults to be motivated to work for $15 over approximately $12. Hence this will allow young teenagers to focus on making money compared to selling drugs and being a part of violence in society.

Can you live off $7.25 an hour? Would you be able to pay all your bills, and have plenty of money left over for food, as well as personal pleasures? Imagine your salary was cut down to a forty-hour work week at the minimum wage salary in your state. Can you save money while on a minimum wage hourly salary? These same questions are on the minds of many Americans that are currently facing these struggles every time they receive a paycheck. For several reasons, the minimum wage should rise to $10.10 nationwide. This would be an adequate amount for most employees to support themselves and have some money to save or spend in the open market which would in

In the United States, the minimum wage has been a controversial issue and one of the major debates among politics over the years. Leaders in both the House of Representatives and the Senate have discussed some possible advantages to raising the minimum wage along with the possible disadvantages of an increased minimum wage. Members on one side of the debate believe raising the minimum wage could hurt America’s lowest income workers and small businesses, while people on the other side believe the current minimum wage is not a living wage – therefore needs to be raised. In this report, information on both sides of the debate has been considered. As John Stuart Mill (One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism, he contributed widely to social theory, political theory and political economy) once said, “The only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject, is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety of opinion, and studying all modes in which it can be looked at by every character of mind. No wise man ever acquired his wisdom in any mode but this” (Mill 12). In this report, we will look at a short description and history of the United States’ minimum wage policies. In addition, we will discuss the status of the minimum wage and present the arguments for and against raising the minimum wage. Research involving minimum wage increases have proved that the minimum wage is an ineffective antipoverty tool. Studies also show that replacing the minimum wage with an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit would be much more effective (Sabia). While, members on both sides of the debate have strong arguments, the United States government should repeal, replace, and redefine minimum wage to reduce poverty among low-income workers and help America’s small businesses succeed.

Should the minimum wage be raised? Many minimum wage workers would say “yes,” reasoning that one can not support oneself without a proper pay worth more than $7.25 an hour in exchange for laborious work. Others might disagree and say that it would be unreasonable to raise the minimum wage since jobs such as in the food and clothing industry usually hire unskilled cheap labor in order to maintain cheap prices. However, since I work in the restaurant industry I am familiar with the working environment and the strive to make money. Working with adults that struggle to pay bills and support a family, I am thankful that I do not independently need to support myself. In seeking the answer to my question, I have read and analyzed two opposing essays

There are many reasons minimum wage should not be increased. The first reason, the unemployment percent will raise. The unskilled teens will be struggling to get their first job. Then, the prices will increase to balance everything to the minimum wage earning. Workers are still going to struggle to buy their needs, when the cost of goods is raised too. Third reason, minimum wage does not help the low-income families. The low-income family’s percent is high that most are unskilled to a good job. Minimum wage should not be raised because the unemployment will raise, the prices automatic boost up, and it will not benefit the low-income families.

The minimum wage has always been a crucial part of American economics, being a hot topic for debate. Recently, the idea of increasing the minimum wage to $10 an hour has sparked a great deal of controversy. These debates have jumbled American politicians and citizens around, trying to decide what they believe is the best way to approach the topic. Most Americans believe that the minimum wage should be increased, according to Pew Research Center, 33% favor and 40% strongly favor this raise. This can cause problems for many people without them realizing the consequences. The increase in minimum wage to $10 an hour would be detrimental to the United States economy, if passed it would result in increase of costs for businesses, unbalance of the

Looking back over the last century, minimum wage has been a divisive subject among policy makers and economists in the United States. As far back as 1938 when the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was first introduced, minimum wage has been a contentious issue. After much judicial opposition, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law a bill which was a landmark in the nation’s social and economic development. The bill banned oppressive child labor, set the minimum wage to twenty five cents, and set the maximum allotted time to work at forty four hours per week (Grossman). The fight regarding minimum wage continues today, and one of the most frequently asked questions in our country, when it comes to

In 2015, 78.2 million workers were paid at hourly rates. Which makes up 58.5 percent of all the wages and salary workers in the United States. Amongst those 870,000 workers earned exactly $7.25 per hour. The average household earns about $15,080 annually for a full- time minimum wage worker. ("Increasing the Minimum Wage: Pros & Cons"). Minimum wage is the lowest wage that employers can legally pay their employees. The United States minimum wage was initially set at $0.25 per hour by The Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938. ("UC Davis Center for Poverty Research"). Due to a drastic increase for the cost of living since the early 1900s it has then been increased to $7.25 an hour. The minimum wage should

The standard minimum wage level has been a controversy over its insufficient wages set for working class Americans. The minimum wage was established to protect unskilled workers from being exploited by employers’ low pay. Introducing the minimum wage provided stabilization in the workplace, but as the cost of living increases, working Americans are demanding a livable wage. In the recent past, the American dream fadedness changed the way Americans view the economy. For many wageworkers, the American dream is becoming less of a possibility as corporations minimize the chances for the poor working class to obtain the dream. However, raising the federal minimum wage will likely result in higher prices for the middle and lower classes because

Proponents of raising the minimum wage claim that if the minimum wage was raised, then many economic and social problems would be alleviated. This contention is at odds both with economic principles and years of creditable research. The effect of raising or even having a minimum wage has been studied extensively and the majority of studies have proven that raising a minimum wage does not have the desired effect. Both micro and macroeconomic forces affect the results of raising the minimum wage. The secondary effects of raising the minimum wage are bad both for

The minimum wage is the lowest possible wage that employers can legally pay their workers. Today, it seems like everyone has their own opinion on the minimum wage. Should it be abolished, raised, or should it remain the same? I will talk about the pros and the cons of raising the minimum wage as well as my own opinion if it should be raised or if it should stay the same.